Panorama

KETIL STRAND (R)EVOLUTION OF ROCK GUITARSPART I-IV

NORWEGIAN ROCKERThe exceptional Norwegian guitarist Ketil Strand is an extremely versatile and popular studio and session musician. He’s been playing the guitar for over 30 years and is at home in many different styles. Very many, actually. But at heart he remains a Rocker. A Norwegian Rocker

INVENTOR OF THE COOL SMILEIt is eight years since Ketil Strand exploded into our consciousness with his (R)evolution of Rock Guitar YouTube videos, highlighting both his incredible playing skills and the tonal qualities of the Axe-Fx Ultra. This combination was nothing short of a dream team and needless to say, we were more than happy to have someone spreading the word for Fractal Audio products so effectively. With a smile so cool that you’d miss it if you blinked, Ketil soon had the Axe-Fx attracting more attention than any effects device before it.

PURE GUITARKetil Strand used his Axe-FX exclusively for all sounds and effects and played directly into Cubase. No tricks and no additional mixing. Pure Axe-Fx (with the exception of the backing tracks, of course).

EVOLUTION Here we see the first part of a series of episodes in which Ketil takes us on a trip through the 'Evolution of Rock Guitar', from the late 30s right up to the present day, paying homage to countless styles, playing techniques and musical developments on the way. And because all of the guitar sounds apart from the backing tracks have been recorded with just one single guitar processor, the Axe-Fx Ultra, this Evolution of Rock Guitar also represents a revolution in the history of guitar amplification.

KETIL: "I used the Axe-Fx Ultra exclusively for all guitar sounds and effects and recorded it direct in Cubase, no extra "tricks" done in the mix or anything, it's all coming from the Axe-Fx (except the backing tracks of course..) But I'm using many different guitars as shown and mentioned in the video. I've also mentioned some of the amp types and effects from the Axe-Fx that I'm using on the different tracks."